After two major legal victories gave them control over what was left of the Pac-12 Conference, Washington State and Oregon State both announced Monday they have come to an agreement with the 10 departing schools about how to distribute the remaining revenues.
As part of the deal, the departing schools — which include Washington, Oregon, UCLA and USC, which are joining the Big Ten Conference; Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado, which are joining the Big 12 Conference; and Stanford and California, which are joining the Atlantic Coast Conference — agreed to give up a total of $5 million each during the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year.
Those departing schools will also pay $1.5 million each in a "supplemental contribution" to the conference that can be used by WSU and OSU to navigate an uncertain future.
"We are pleased to have reached a fair and equitable settlement with the 10 departing schools that will set the Pac-12 Conference on a path toward future success. With this issue resolved, we can focus on ensuring that OSU and WSU student-athletes continue to compete at the highest levels of college sports," OSU president Jayathi Murthy and WSU president Kirk Schulz wrote in a joint statement posted on social media.
The statement did not explain how OSU and WSU would use that potential pool of $65 million that otherwise would have been disbursed to the 10 departing schools.
Schulz, through a spokesman, did not return a message seeking comment.
Likewise, Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould did not respond to an interview request.
"Teresa and the conference are not discussing the settlement other than to confirm that it is complete and we look forward to finishing a successful academic year with all 12 institutions and moving forward with Oregon State and Washington State next year," Pac-12 spokesman Erik Hardenbergh said in an email.
Like Murthy and Schulz, the departing schools also issued a joint statement about the settlement, which was agreed to in principle late last year.
"We are pleased to finalize an agreement with OSU and WSU that provides support for all our student-athletes while ensuring an equal distribution of the vast majority of funds earned by all 12 schools during the 2023-24 academic year," the 10 schools which are leaving said in a statement.
"Under this agreement, our schools will have the right to vote on matters that affect all 12 schools this year, while OSU and WSU will have control over future Conference revenue and decisions."
The settlement ends the ugly breakup of a conference that started on June 30, 2022, when officials from the University of Southern California and UCLA announced that those schools would be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.
"The announcement came as a shock," attorneys for WSU and OSU wrote . "Neither school had shown any sign they were contemplating leaving the Pac-12."
The conference board then met at least 20 times without representatives from either of those schools attending. Then Colorado announced on July 27 its intention to join the Big 12 Conference.
Colorado officials were informed that their representation on the Pac-12 board automatically ceased, according to court records.
On Aug. 4, just moments before the conference could announce a media-rights deal with Apple TV, Washington and Oregon announced they, too, were joining the Big Ten.
Arizona, Arizona State and Utah all then announced their decisions to join the Big 12.
At that point, Pac -12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff texted a reporter: "As of today we have 4 board members," court records state.
But the bleeding hadn't finished.
On Sept. 1, Stanford and California announced their decisions to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Then on Nov. 14, Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey ruled in favor of WSU and OSU's effort to control what was remaining of the conference. That ruling was delayed but affirmed in December by the Washington Supreme Court.
The settlement announced Monday represented the final settlement of both sides agreeing how to distribute the revenues for 2024 before the departing schools leave for other conferences.
